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Technology and culture lead the way in one of the country's top places to live and do business. A vibrant, amenity-filled town center and innovative high-tech infrastructure have made Lafayette, Louisiana a launching pad for entrepreneurs of all stripes.

Lafayette is a medical, energy, technology, finance, transportation, education and entertainment hub in the heart of South Louisiana. The resilience of Lafayette’s economy is attributed to our strategic growth, entrepreneurial spirit and skilled workforce. With this foundation, Lafayette fosters an economy that supports a growing population and diverse industry sectors.

In recent years, Lafayette has been recognized as a top 10 community where digital media is clustered and a top community that cultivates technology. Both of these accolades can be attributed in part to Lafayette’s technology-focused initiatives led by UL Lafayette, SLCC, LUS Fiber, LITE, and the Opportunity Machine (Lafayette’s business accelerator)— which have allowed economic development, government, education, and private investors to attract new tech-intensive businesses and innovations to Lafayette.

Lafayette’s burgeoning high-tech sector is poised to become an economic powerhouse in the 21st century. Technology companies are quickly adding jobs in Lafayette. These high-paying positions, in an intellectually rigorous field, are being filled by some of the world’s best and brightest— including young Louisianans who may have sought employment elsewhere if not for the opportunity in Lafayette.

The tech firms, led by CGI and Waitr, have hired more than 500 employees; in a few years, those high-tech hires should number near 1,000. According to calculations by the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, the 10-year economic impact in Lafayette Parish from three tech firms could approach $2 billion, an average of $200 million per year. An additional 600 indirect jobs should be created in the community as a result of these companies.

Advancements in Infrastructure

LUS Fiber - Lafayette is home to one of the nation’s largest municipally-owned Fiber-to-the-Premises networks. LUS Fiber reaches local businesses and homes with speeds up to 10 Gig both up and downstream. LUS Fiber has one of the lowest customer rates in the country and has speeds unmatched by any of the major broadband companies.

LITE - Lafayette is home to the 70,000 square-foot Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise which is one of only a handful of facilities in the world that combine high-performance computing capabilities with advanced visualization, available for use by both the private and public sector. LITE’s staff includes visualization and high-performance computing experts, technical artists and developers who can guide your project from concept to fruition. LITE’s fiber optic connectivity allows data to be sent around the corner or around the globe at the speed of fiber.

Education - Lafayette educators have designed contiguous technology- focused curriculum that extends across various levels of education. The Academy of Information Technology at Carencro High School prepares interested students for a professional career in information technology. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette and South Louisiana Community College offer studies in concentrations such as Informatics, Video Game Development and Design, Cognitive Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Media Arts and Scientific Computing.